FOCUS ON GLOBAL SOUTH
While the European and the US markets are important, they are not the only ones, noted Dr John Quelch, executive vice-chancellor at Duke Kunshan University in China.
He added that there are “plenty of opportunities” for the Chinese EV export market and manufacturing to develop overseas.
On top of selling their products to emerging markets, Chinese EV makers have begun to set up production in local industrial parks to avoid unnecessary barriers, noted Dr Li Fang, country director at the World Resources Institute China.
For instance, BYD opened its first EV factory in Thailand on Thursday, its first in Southeast Asia.
Dr Fang said that establishing manufacturing bases in developing countries also serves to help with their EV transformations.
“It can be seen as a part of our South-South cooperation and as a part of the response to new global trade rules,” she added, referring to cooperation among countries of the Global South.
The Global South, which broadly includes countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, refers to various nations that are sometimes described as “developing”, “less developed” or “underdeveloped”.
The shift also comes amid Chinese President Xi Jinping and his government’s increasing desire to boost cooperation with the grouping, which China considers itself a part of.
Dr Quelch also pointed out that China could collaborate with countries that have auto manufacturing industries such as Mexico.
